Getting the Word Out Through the Media - Utilizing Free Print, Radio & TV to Promote Your Book

Getting your book written and into print is only the beginning. Next you've got to get the word out so it can reach the hands of those who need to read it. One of the least expensive way to get the word out about your book is through the media.

The initial type of free media we will discuss is print media. This could be newspapers, newsletters or magazines. There are a few different ways of getting coverage in these types of publications.

• Interviews: An author in the local vicinity is always a great human interest story for a newspaper. Also, some magazines do feature articles where they may interview an author regarding their story and/or book.

• Articles: You may write a specific article based on the message of your book, or create an article by utilizing an excerpt from your book.

• Book reviews: Many newspapers and magazines regularly review books.
When approaching newspapers, attempt to tie into a national holiday or current event to give them a reason to act now. If that is not a possibility, then just let them know that you are a local author and knew they would be interested in an interview from the human interest angle.

A few years ago we wanted to get the larger newspaper in the Seattle area to cover a writing class my pastor's wife was teaching to some homeschoolers. We made a point to pitch it to the editor as a great story to go along with the national "I Love to Write Day" on November 15. This was just what we needed to get the paper's attention. They came out almost immediately to do an article which later turned into an additional full page article when the journalist was intrigued with Carla's ministry and came out to interview her during a Bible Study and writers critique group.

If you approach a magazine, find one that targets your ideal audience and request their "theme list" for the upcoming year. Keep in mind that many magazines and take home papers work 6-9 months out, and not all of them make their editorial schedule available. But if they do, and you can target your article or excerpt to something they already have on their editorial list, your chances of getting accepted are, of course, much greater. Also, don't send an article or excerpt from your book on parenting to "Biblical Archaeology" or "World" magazine. Make sure the magazine you send an article or excerpt to is geared towards the same audience as your message and that they consistently print articles or excerpts similar to yours.

And remember to query the editor in advance to see if they would be interested in your article. Oftentimes if a magazine accepts your article there will be payment to you as the author. When an article excerpted from my book was used as a "One Woman's Story" in Today's Christian Woman, I opted to waive the payment if they would put the ordering information in my byline at the end of the article. I would rather give the reader the opportunity to order a copy right then than make $500-800 on the article...and buying an ad in that magazine to run concurrently with my article would have cost much more than that, so I felt the trade off was a good deal, and it generated quite a few sales.

When contacting a newspaper or magazine about doing a book review, find out who handles the book reviews and contact them directly. Find out their submission requirements, as some want a "bound galley", some want an "unbound galley", some want the published book, and some don't care one way or another. Be sure to let them know that you can provide them with a digital image of the cover if they need it for the review, and include your press kit so they have some background information on you when they do the book review.

Expanding on different ways to get free media, the next aspect we will take a look at is utilizing electronic media in the form of radio interviews.

I prefer radio interviews, not only because they are much easier to book than TV, but there are way more radio stations with the talk radio format where interviewing authors is the norm. Also you don't have to travel anywhere to make the interview happen. In fact, you can do an hour long interview and be speaking to a listening audience of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people...in your robe and slippers in the privacy of your own home!

Most of the time the radio station will call you on their dime, but occasionally they will require that you call in on a non-toll-free number.

Radio interviews can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 120 minutes, and if appropriate, may even take live calls for you to respond to. You will need to be fully prepared to articulately communicate your message either way, with short sound byte answers for the shorter interview and more detailed answers if time permits. If you do have call ins, make sure you take notes as they speak, and write down the callers name so you can be more personal with your answer.
And don't be afraid to get the interview back on topic if the host asks you a question that is irrelevant or begins a rabbit trail that will end up off topic. If the host asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, it's ok to say, "I don't know about that, but what I do know is....." and move the interview back to your topic.

You'll want to make sure that you let the host know that you have a toll free number for callers to use to order your book (that is, if you do have one!) and ask if it will be ok for you to give it out once or twice during the show. Don't get too aggressive about promoting your book or the host may get offended and cut the interview short. An interview is not intended to be one big advertisement for your book, but an informational segment intended to encourage and equip the listening audience and at the same time, it will naturally be a promotional piece about the message of your book. You want to give the listeners lots of good information, but leave enough out so that they have a reason to buy your book. Instead of giving ALL the information when asked, give some of it and then say "I go into much more detail in chapter four of my book."

If your book is available online, make sure you mention that as an alternate way for listeners to order a copy...and be sure, from the start of your interview, to speak clearly and project a little more than you feel that you need to. Your voice needs to carry over all those airwaves and there needs to be enough inflection to keep the audience listening....if you're too monotone, you'll lose them right off the bat.

In order to keep the door open for future interviews, always, always send a thank you card to the host. This business is all about relationships and if you can become a resource to many of the hosts who interview you, it will pay off in the long run.

Now let's take a moment to cover TV as the last type of free electronic media we'll mention in this article.

While TV is a lot more demanding, and requires travel time and expenses, it is not the greatest way to get free media, but it certainly has its place.

When my first book, Consumed by Success: Reaching the Top and Finding God Wasn't There, came out in 1995 I was doing quite a bit of traveling to speak at Christian Writers Conferences all across the country. At that time we did not have an in-house publicist so I was using a freelance publicist to book all my radio and TV. I gave her the list of all the speaking engagements I had scheduled for the year and had her book as many TV interviews as she could at each stop I would be making, scheduling them for the day before or sometimes even during the conference when I knew I wouldn't be needed. That way I didn't incur the added expense of traveling to get the free media, since I was already in town for the conference.

One of the first (live not taped) TV interviews I did was with Dr. Karen Hayter, with Family Net out of Fort Worth, TX.

"You're the first author I've interviewed in a long time who not only wrote your own book but read it as well!" Karen exclaimed after we finished. This was amazing to me, but it still holds true today. Many of the big time authors don't even write their own books (they have ghostwriters) and they often don't even take the time to read them before an interview...which leads me to my first piece of advice regarding TV interviews:

1) Re-read your book before going on a TV interview. Since the camera is on you, it will catch any hesitancy or "deer in the headlights" look you may display if a question comes that you're not ready for! It's not like radio where no one can see the look on your face.
2) Make sure you provide the producer/host with your list of suggested questions ahead of time so you are both on the same page.
3) Give the producer the ordering information on your book. If you have an 800 # to give out for easy ordering, make sure you do that before the show starts so they have it and can refer to it.
4) Stay away from wearing black, white, stripes, plaids, hounds-tooth, or other patterns like that.
5) Apply makeup a little heavier than usual, since the lights will wash you out and you'll need the extra color. (most shows have a make up artist who can do this for you, but some don't).
6) Arrive early, well rested, prepared and at peace. Go with the attitude of a servant, not a celebrity.

Make it a point to offer yourself as a resource or on-call expert to the media in your area. Make that first interview turn into a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship that will, in turn, give your message the exposure it deserves.

Athena Dean, founder of WinePress Publishing and three-time self-published author, has coached hundreds of authors through the daunting task of book production and promotion. Over the last 17 years she has helped bring the degree of credibility for self-published works up to the high level of acceptance in the industry it enjoys today. Athena functions as Acquisitions Manager for WinePress Publishing Group http://www.winepressgroup.com and is currently the President of the Northwest Christian Writers' Association http://www.nwchristianwriters.org Check out her You Can Do It - Promote and Market Your Self Published Book Blog at http://athenadean.authorweblog.com

What is Your 'Genre's Promise'?

What is Your 'Genre's Promise'?

This month we will study ‘the fiction novel’s promises,’ and how we use them to write and sell fiction.

There are rules that govern fiction writing. Most are soft rules that can be broken when the story needs a twist or to jar the reader emotionally. Experienced writers can break the rules and still sell their novel. This is not true of the genre’s promises.

Each genre is built around fundamental promises that must be kept if a writer dreams of becoming a published author. These promises define a book’s genre. The following examples give a brief definition of some genres.

· The Heroine is the heartbeat of a romance novel, but if the story focuses on her and not the romance, the novel fits the woman’s fiction genre. The reader expects a certain type of story, character, conflict, and experience, whether it is emotional release, fantasy, or fun.

· The Hero drives a fantasy novel forward, but if a troupe of characters do not accompany him or her, the novel is an adventure, or historical adventure.

· The Victim keeps readers turning the pages of a thriller, if the main character is not a victim the novel is more likely a mystery.

The novel’s readers expect certain elements to be included in a novel, in the right place. When they browse the bookstore shelves, they are looking for a novel that promises a satisfying, emotional experience. The romance reader expects the story will be driven forward by the character's motives and actions. This makes romance novel’s plots character driven. If the situations and events move the plot forward, the romance reader will be disappointed with the story.

Readers also abhor the presence of author intrusions, except in fantasy novels. Author intrusions are situations where the author takes the liberty to resolve a story's conflicts by interrupting the natural sequence of events, or cause and effect, to include a situation from their imagination, instead of drawing on the character's motives and goals. This is true of most situational driven plots.

The fiction novel reader also expects the character to have weaknesses that will make them real. When the reader picks up a novel, they expect a certain aspect of emotional growth in the character. This is true in all genres. The character must grow until they are worthy of a happy ending, even if the reader had a bad day. A novel does not work if the reader resents the character’s good luck or success.

“Will the reader think this character is worthy of a happy ending, one which is denied the person reading the story?” I have helped many writers who were told their story suffered from a weak ending. I suggested that the reader resented the character’s happy ending, believing they were not worthy of it. I asked the writer to read their work, with the genre’s promises in mind, and give the reader what they want and expect. In the writing industry, we call this “meeting reader demands.” After all, this is the purpose of fiction. We write for the reader, not ourselves. If the reader is not happy, there is no reason to publish the novel or short story. If the reader is not happy, they will not buy another one of our books.

However, many writers forget that each genre offers their reader's a specific promise. The reader knows the couple in a romance novel will overcome their problems, resolve the conflicts, and make a life long commitment in the end. The mystery novel promises the reader the detective will have a hard time figuring out who the criminal is, but when the reader looks back at the clues, it will be obvious. The thriller genre promises readers the characters will become emotionally involved in a life and death fight, and the protagonist will not necessarily have a happy ending, but the characters will find the emotional stability and contentment they desire. If the novel does not provide this emotional experience, then it fits the spy or adventure genre.

Writers break their genre’s promises when the character’s personality types are not compatible with each other. For example: when picking an antagonist, or Villain, the reader forgets to make them the opposite of the protagonist, or Hero. To use a comic book term, the Villain must be the Hero's nemesis. This is a very important aspect of most novels.

This is why writers need to understand their markets, genres, and why certain readers are drawn to a particular type of story. Let’s say you are writing about a woman whose nurturing side enables her to defeat the large corporation that is preparing to destroy her home. Logic may indicate the Amazon archetype will be the best character type for this story. No. The Amazon type will die before surrendering their independence, but they will not risk everything save strangers or an ideal like ‘hearth and home.’ This personality type is motivated by self-gain, so there must be a personal benefit before they fight. While they Amazon is the wrong choice for a romance or woman’s fiction, she is perfect for a thriller or Sci-Fi.

Picking a personality type for a character is not hard. The Internet is full of articles and personality tests that writers can use to create the perfect characters. Best sellers are a great place to look for the reader’s idea of a perfect couple, hero, or troupe, depending on the genre. I do not suggest you copy characters from a published novel, but studying what the readers expect in the characters and plot will save months of rewrites, heartache, and rejection for writers of all genres.

The concept of a story’s promise is widely used in the fiction publishing industry. To explore these promises a writer needs to look at several different fiction genres. You will see that different genres can have the same types of characters, similar protagonists and antagonists, the same conflicts, resolutions, climax and black moment. But, they unfold at different paces and have varying emotional impacts on the readers. This is the result of the story's promise.

Here are some examples of how each genre unfolds to elicit different emotional responses from the readers.

· A fantasy novel promises the reader an adventure where a troupe of mismatched characters overcome impossible odds, conflicts, and complete a quest with nothing more than luck, team work, and magic. The character in the fantasy novel may have problems related to their back-story that prevents them from realizing their full potential.

· The thriller promises a roller coaster ride of story twists that create an unpredictable ending.

· A Sci-Fi novel promises the reader a team of intelligent people will survive on their wits alone. They need to dig deep inside them discover strengths, weaknesses, and how to work as a team, if they want to survive.



The Hero in a Sci-Fi who is self-efficient, Type A, and emotionally stable, would be completely unsuitable for the fantasy novel. So, the Sci-Fi takes the character on a journey from self sufficient individualist to team oriented survivor, while the fantasy takes the same character from homebody, or no-body to self-sufficient hero. The difference in these two genre’s promises force the characters down different paths toward their character growth. To some writers, this seems like a minor problem, but it can be a major problem when it comes time to pitching a novel to the publisher.

Broken promises also cause plot problems, especially when the writer puts their own personal wants and needs first. Writers, like everyone, have their own problems. They are on their own journey of emotional and character growth. In many cases, they write a book for self healing, and then wonder why editors don't take the time to read it, or publishers send them form rejection slips. The person who bought a novel chose it because the story promised to reach a need in their lives. It promised a satisfying ending, characters who the reader could care about, and a plot that will unfold in an interesting and entertaining manner. When a novel or short story fails to unravel in the proper sequence, and in an entertaining way, the reader feels let down.

The romance reader wants to read about selfless characters. This reader will not relate to the Amazon archetype’s motives and goals. That is why a clever writer knows their reader and gives them familiar characters. This is why I suggest that all writers join reading clubs, yahoo groups, fan clubs, and even create their own groups and newsletters. These will all give them a chance to study the very people who will be reading their fiction.

These promises are used when writing, submitting, and pitching a novel. New authors can learn how to do this. First, study the genre from published books and the Internet. Second, a smart writer reads their genres best sellers. One habit reappears consistently in the lives of every published author I know. It is secret that takes the mystery out of the craft of writing. Simply put it is, “avid readers make the best authors.”

Published writers and avid readers, can usually list the popular authors and best selling books in their genre, because they read them. They know their market, and they know their reader.

Next, a wise writer makes sure the genre's promises are the foundation of the themes and subplots in their stories. A good story makes the genre's promises a focal point in the story, not just a vague subplot. Taking the time to read best sellers will prove this is a fact, not just a theory.

Finally, they will write their sales pitch, synopsis, query letter, and promotional material around these promises.

There is a big difference between fiction and marketable fiction. In many ways, the craft of writing is unforgivable, but a skilled writer can use the rules to free themselves from the formulas that are used to create marketable fiction. All a writer needs is a little creativity and a solid understanding of the elements that are common in all good fiction. If you are ready to write your break out novel, or if you are trying to write your very first novel, then it is time to start focusing on the genre’s promises and using them to meet the reader’s demands.

Most importantly, you need to remember one thing – have fun.



Suzanne James is a published author and freelance content/line editor, and author of “Is Your Manuscript Ready To Submit?” To date she has edited 10 published novels. More than one was nominated for, or won, national awards including the EPPIE.

She has taught more than 2000 writers in her online courses, How to Write and Edit a Novel, Write Well: Prose to Proofreading, and How to Write Romance at www.writersonlinecourses. She also teaches at writer’s workshops and continuing education course in Southern Ontario.

She hosts two sites designed to teach new writers, and help published authors promote themselves. www.inspiredauthor.com www.authorsconnecction.com

Her personal website is at www.writer-writer.com

12 Steps To Becoming A Best-Selling Author

Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual, defines a bestseller is an author who has successfully sold 35,000 copies of their book. However, it is also possible, that if your book becomes a Top-20 book in any given week (maybe only 5,000 to 8,000) then you can become a New York Times, Wall Street Journal best-selling author. Either route you take, you will be more successful if you implement these 12 strategies listed below:
1. Keep Your Day Job: You need seed money to allow you to invest in your book and in this process. Your best source of seed money is your own income.

2. Get Your Book Published: This is the most important step in the process. Too many writers give up on the process and never see their book become real.

3. Commit Yourself To Book: The promotion of your book is something that you need to commit to for the rest of your life. If you do this, you will be successful.

4. Set A Sales Volume Goal: Set your to a minimum of 35,000 copies. Remember due to a lack of marketing, 98% of authors will never sell more than 2,000 copies.

5. Give Away Your Books For Free: Give your books away to individuals who are capable of buying in volume, hiring you to speak, coach or consult.

6. Go To Post Office 2,500 Times: Commit to going to the post office every day and shipping out a minimum of 3-5 books per day to prospects.

7. Implement an Amazon Book Campaign: This strategy will allow you to leverage many others database and achieve

8. Selling Books From Platform: Book as many speaking engagements as possible. In doing so you, you will be able successfully sell hundreds every time you speak.

9. Focus on High Volume Sales: Sell books 10,000 at a time, instead of one at a time. In doing so, the same amount of time is required to write invoices.

10. Co-Brand Your Book: Allow CEO's to do foreword in book only if they are willing to purchase large volumes in advance and pay up front.

11. Sell Out to a Major NY Publisher: Once your book is proven in marketplace, find a good agent and sell out to your rights to a publisher for a large advance.

12. Use Other People's Money: Printing books is very expensive so make sales in advance and have prospects cover all of your printing costs!

Most importantly, NEVER give up as this process will take you three times longer than you desire, cost your three times more than you budget. However the return will be 30X greater than you can imagine. I challenge you to promote, promote, promote! In doing so, you will SOAR in life and your book will also become a bestseller!

Patrick Snow http://www.BestSellerPublishingCoaching.com (800) 951-7721

The Ultimate Book Launch Party

There is no doubt that the day when you finally hold your book on your hands is one of the happiest days for a writer. After so many months -if not years- of writing, revising, editing, submitting and finally publishing you can see and touch your baby. This occasion calls for a big celebration and what better way to send this book off unto the hands of your readers than with a Book Launch Party.

One of the main considerations for this party is that you probably thought of it way back when you were planning to write the book. The book marketing plan must be prepared before the book itself in order to ensure success. Considering the topic and audience of the book determines the theme of the party along with all the activities. The best days to do a Book Launch Party are either Friday or Saturday, in order to get the most attendance. The time of day has a lot to do with the theme; it could easily be a picnic at the beach as a wine and cheese or masquerade during the evening.

Here are the key ingredients on The Ultimate Book Launch Party:
Theme: Select a theme directly related to your book. Fiction books are excellent in this regard.
Invitations: Create one-of-a-kind invitation for the launch. You can get an inexpensive software program and design and print your own invitations. Request to RSVP.

News & Media: Remember to prepare a news release to mark the event and forward it to your local newspaper at least four to six weeks in advance. Do not forget to send a personal invitation to your local news person.

Party Register: Have everyone register on your party register and include their e-mail and mailing address. Tell them they will be the first to know about your next book sale, book release, contests and giveaways.

Game or Contest: Create a game or contest around your book.

Food & Drinks: Have something simple to offer your guests on elegant serving plates.

Reading: Read portions of your books or better yet, have some of your guests read a short portion of it. If anyone assisting has read your book ask them to tell the others about it. Nothing sells more than a satisfied reader.

Pictures: Take plenty of pictures with your guests while the party is going on. You might want to give the camera to one of them to take pictures as you visit with everyone there. The pictures will be great for promotional materials, websites and blogs.

Note: You might want to have a release form ready for all the attendants to sign in reference to authorization to post their pictures online or any printed materials without compensation.

Sell: Offer special discounts to your guests who buy 2 or more signed copies of your book. Have bookmarks, flyers and mail order forms for everyone and the ones who do not buy, they can take it home and order later. For those who don not buy on the spot you might want to offer them the same special discount if they order in the next 48 hours.

Follow Up: Send the guests a thank you note for coming and include 2-3 business cards with a small discount offer for your book on the back for them to give to family or friends. Make sure your discount has an expiration date in order to keep the book sales going on a regular basis.
That is it. Easy, fun and profitable! Let your imagination roll and create The Ultimate Book Launch Party for you and your friends.

About the author:

Clary Lopez is the CEO/Founder of Guerrilla Marketers Café, Free Book Promotion site. She is an author, moderator and publicist. She is preparing to launch her next book, BookPromo Guerrilla Style. You can contact her at guerrilla@clarylopez.com or visit her websites http://guerrilla.clarylopez.com, http://bookhomestead.com and her official author site http://clarylopez.com

Getting the Word Out Through the Media - Utilizing Free Print, Radio & TV to Promote Your Book

Getting your book written and into print is only the beginning. Next you've got to get the word out so it can reach the hands of those who need to read it. One of the least expensive way to get the word out about your book is through the media.

The initial type of free media we will discuss is print media. This could be newspapers, newsletters or magazines. There are a few different ways of getting coverage in these types of publications.

• Interviews: An author in the local vicinity is always a great human interest story for a newspaper. Also, some magazines do feature articles where they may interview an author regarding their story and/or book.

• Articles: You may write a specific article based on the message of your book, or create an article by utilizing an excerpt from your book.

• Book reviews: Many newspapers and magazines regularly review books.
When approaching newspapers, attempt to tie into a national holiday or current event to give them a reason to act now. If that is not a possibility, then just let them know that you are a local author and knew they would be interested in an interview from the human interest angle.

A few years ago we wanted to get the larger newspaper in the Seattle area to cover a writing class my pastor's wife was teaching to some homeschoolers. We made a point to pitch it to the editor as a great story to go along with the national "I Love to Write Day" on November 15. This was just what we needed to get the paper's attention. They came out almost immediately to do an article which later turned into an additional full page article when the journalist was intrigued with Carla's ministry and came out to interview her during a Bible Study and writers critique group.

If you approach a magazine, find one that targets your ideal audience and request their "theme list" for the upcoming year. Keep in mind that many magazines and take home papers work 6-9 months out, and not all of them make their editorial schedule available. But if they do, and you can target your article or excerpt to something they already have on their editorial list, your chances of getting accepted are, of course, much greater. Also, don't send an article or excerpt from your book on parenting to "Biblical Archaeology" or "World" magazine. Make sure the magazine you send an article or excerpt to is geared towards the same audience as your message and that they consistently print articles or excerpts similar to yours.

And remember to query the editor in advance to see if they would be interested in your article. Oftentimes if a magazine accepts your article there will be payment to you as the author. When an article excerpted from my book was used as a "One Woman's Story" in Today's Christian Woman, I opted to waive the payment if they would put the ordering information in my byline at the end of the article. I would rather give the reader the opportunity to order a copy right then than make $500-800 on the article...and buying an ad in that magazine to run concurrently with my article would have cost much more than that, so I felt the trade off was a good deal, and it generated quite a few sales.

When contacting a newspaper or magazine about doing a book review, find out who handles the book reviews and contact them directly. Find out their submission requirements, as some want a "bound galley", some want an "unbound galley", some want the published book, and some don't care one way or another. Be sure to let them know that you can provide them with a digital image of the cover if they need it for the review, and include your press kit so they have some background information on you when they do the book review.

Expanding on different ways to get free media, the next aspect we will take a look at is utilizing electronic media in the form of radio interviews.

I prefer radio interviews, not only because they are much easier to book than TV, but there are way more radio stations with the talk radio format where interviewing authors is the norm. Also you don't have to travel anywhere to make the interview happen. In fact, you can do an hour long interview and be speaking to a listening audience of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of people...in your robe and slippers in the privacy of your own home!

Most of the time the radio station will call you on their dime, but occasionally they will require that you call in on a non-toll-free number.

Radio interviews can be anywhere from 5 minutes to 120 minutes, and if appropriate, may even take live calls for you to respond to. You will need to be fully prepared to articulately communicate your message either way, with short sound byte answers for the shorter interview and more detailed answers if time permits. If you do have call ins, make sure you take notes as they speak, and write down the callers name so you can be more personal with your answer.
And don't be afraid to get the interview back on topic if the host asks you a question that is irrelevant or begins a rabbit trail that will end up off topic. If the host asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, it's ok to say, "I don't know about that, but what I do know is....." and move the interview back to your topic.

You'll want to make sure that you let the host know that you have a toll free number for callers to use to order your book (that is, if you do have one!) and ask if it will be ok for you to give it out once or twice during the show. Don't get too aggressive about promoting your book or the host may get offended and cut the interview short. An interview is not intended to be one big advertisement for your book, but an informational segment intended to encourage and equip the listening audience and at the same time, it will naturally be a promotional piece about the message of your book. You want to give the listeners lots of good information, but leave enough out so that they have a reason to buy your book. Instead of giving ALL the information when asked, give some of it and then say "I go into much more detail in chapter four of my book."

If your book is available online, make sure you mention that as an alternate way for listeners to order a copy...and be sure, from the start of your interview, to speak clearly and project a little more than you feel that you need to. Your voice needs to carry over all those airwaves and there needs to be enough inflection to keep the audience listening....if you're too monotone, you'll lose them right off the bat.

In order to keep the door open for future interviews, always, always send a thank you card to the host. This business is all about relationships and if you can become a resource to many of the hosts who interview you, it will pay off in the long run.

Now let's take a moment to cover TV as the last type of free electronic media we'll mention in this article.

While TV is a lot more demanding, and requires travel time and expenses, it is not the greatest way to get free media, but it certainly has its place.

When my first book, Consumed by Success: Reaching the Top and Finding God Wasn't There, came out in 1995 I was doing quite a bit of traveling to speak at Christian Writers Conferences all across the country. At that time we did not have an in-house publicist so I was using a freelance publicist to book all my radio and TV. I gave her the list of all the speaking engagements I had scheduled for the year and had her book as many TV interviews as she could at each stop I would be making, scheduling them for the day before or sometimes even during the conference when I knew I wouldn't be needed. That way I didn't incur the added expense of traveling to get the free media, since I was already in town for the conference.

One of the first (live not taped) TV interviews I did was with Dr. Karen Hayter, with Family Net out of Fort Worth, TX.

"You're the first author I've interviewed in a long time who not only wrote your own book but read it as well!" Karen exclaimed after we finished. This was amazing to me, but it still holds true today. Many of the big time authors don't even write their own books (they have ghostwriters) and they often don't even take the time to read them before an interview...which leads me to my first piece of advice regarding TV interviews:

1) Re-read your book before going on a TV interview. Since the camera is on you, it will catch any hesitancy or "deer in the headlights" look you may display if a question comes that you're not ready for! It's not like radio where no one can see the look on your face.
2) Make sure you provide the producer/host with your list of suggested questions ahead of time so you are both on the same page.
3) Give the producer the ordering information on your book. If you have an 800 # to give out for easy ordering, make sure you do that before the show starts so they have it and can refer to it.
4) Stay away from wearing black, white, stripes, plaids, hounds-tooth, or other patterns like that.
5) Apply makeup a little heavier than usual, since the lights will wash you out and you'll need the extra color. (most shows have a make up artist who can do this for you, but some don't).
6) Arrive early, well rested, prepared and at peace. Go with the attitude of a servant, not a celebrity.

Make it a point to offer yourself as a resource or on-call expert to the media in your area. Make that first interview turn into a long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationship that will, in turn, give your message the exposure it deserves.

Athena Dean, founder of WinePress Publishing and three-time self-published author, has coached hundreds of authors through the daunting task of book production and promotion. Over the last 17 years she has helped bring the degree of credibility for self-published works up to the high level of acceptance in the industry it enjoys today. Athena functions as Acquisitions Manager for WinePress Publishing Group http://www.winepressgroup.com and is currently the President of the Northwest Christian Writers' Association http://www.nwchristianwriters.org Check out her You Can Do It - Promote and Market Your Self Published Book Blog at http://athenadean.authorweblog.com

How to Write a Good Author Interview

One of the most overlooked promotional tools at the author's disposal is the interview. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of websites who want to publish author interviews. However, they receive few requests for an interview. I believe the main reason is that many authors think only famous authors should do interviews. This is not true. An interview is for promotion, and any author who wants to become famous should start requesting to be interviewed.

A second misunderstanding is that, if you are interview worthy, you will have people ask you. Not true. Even movie stars have their Public Relations company's set up 'interview days' where reporters who are interested come and ask questions. Writers can do the same thing.

Another thing that many writers don't understand is that 'image is everything.' Most authors never give 1 hours thought to their image. However, image is the #1 difference between famous/bestselling authors and those who sell 40 copies of their book a year.

What is the Author Image?

The first thing an author needs to do is define what the 'author image' should be. The best way to do this is visit the web sites of your favorite authors. What do they talk about? How do they describe themselves. What are their interests?

One of the most overlooked aspects is the author photo. It should tell something about the author, and their image. Don't go to glamour shots or have your friend take a picture of you sitting at a computer. This one 'good' photo will sell enough books to make you famous.

Travel is a good way to interest visitors. The author should be someone special, and posting pictures of interesting places around where you live, vacation pictures of exotic destinations, and most importantly, images from writer's conferences etc...all these will validate your image as an author.

How to Complete an Author Interview

One of the biggest mistakes is thinking that people want your bio. This mistake is also made when authors are asked to write a short bio. This is not a resume. This is not a job interview.

No one really cares how long you have been writing, where you went to school, or whether you have a MLA. You can give this information, but do it in a way that is interesting.

Julie Garwood use to be great. "I get up at 4 am and write until my boys wake."

"I laugh when I think about my first book. I wrote it on an old laptop, and struggled over it for years."

Think about the verbs you use, and the nouns. Make them interesting. Also, write something. If the interviewer asks 'how many books have you written' then don't just answer 'one.'

"I have one finished, but my mind is always overloaded with ideas. I've recently started one that really touches my heart."

These are the type of answers that will help you build a fan base

What do Fans Want?

The most important thing to remember is what the fans want. Each genre has a different fan base who expects a different image from their writers. The image does not need to reflect the real person. This doesn't mean you should lie, but it does mean that you should highlight and expand the aspects of your life that fans want to know about.

Ray Bradbury often talked about writing in a dark room that was cluttered with interesting artifacts from around the world. He would talk about creating his worlds from the items in that room. The image this conjured up in the reader's mind gave life to Bradbury's stories.

Dickens is dead, but his PR lives on. Fans of Scrooge snuggle down at Christmas time to watch Alistar Simm's rendition of 'A Christmas Carol' with images of Dickens surrounded by his 13 children, writing away in a small cottage, while the injustice of humanity raged beyond the front door.

Don't Promote to Other Authors

One of the biggest mistakes I've seen authors make is by promoting to other authors. There are tons of author websites full of articles to other writers. The articles should be written to fans. Yes, writers buy a lot of books, but if you want to sell to other authors/fans, then don't promote your writing skill - sell your characters.